1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus comprising a plurality of operation units and an image forming apparatus.
2. Related Background Art
A conventional image forming apparatus consists of a plurality of units including an image forming process unit, a sheet feeding unit, a sheet conveying unit and a fixing unit, and each unit is controlled by a single control device referred to as a DC controller. As an example of an image forming apparatus having a DC controller, the invention disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H05-318819 may be mentioned.
More specifically, the DC controller carries out control relating to operations including starting and stopping the operations of each unit in accordance with the image formation sequence. The DC controller also monitors the operating state of each unit, and when an error occurs in any of the units, the DC control performs processing and the like to respond to the error.
However, in the conventional image forming apparatus, since control for all of the units is concentrated in the DC controller, the DC controller bears a heavy load in terms of hardware and software. For this reason, as image forming apparatuses became larger or are given higher levels of functionality, the load placed on the DC controller increases more and more.